Low voter turnout in Brahmanbaria, Bogura bypolls, Hero Alom hopes to win 2 seats in parliament

Social media star Ashraful Hossen Alom aka Hero Alom is running for parliament from two Bogura constituencies

Voter turnout has been reportedly quite low in several of the six constituencies that are holding bypolls for new parliamentary representatives after the resignation of six BNP lawmakers.

HERO ALOM HOPES TO WIN 2 SEATS

Social media star Ashraful Hossen Alom aka Hero Alom is running for the Bogura-4 (Kahalu-Nandigram) and Bogura-6 (Sadar) parliamentary bypolls and hopes to win both if there is a ‘fair election’.

He toured polling centres in both constituencies after voting began at 8:30 pm on Wednesday. He alleged that one of his poll agents had been removed from one centre.

“My poll agent was kicked out of one polling centre,” he said at 12:30 pm. “I called the election officials. Many of them did not pick up. But I was able to eventually reach them and register my complaint.”

He expressed concerns about disruptions to the vote in the Bogura-6 seat, but said, “We did not notice anything amiss in the Bogura-4 seat.”

Asked about the turnout, he said that it was quite low at the moment.

“But it is my hope that more voters will come to the polling centres in the afternoon and exercise their right to vote.”

The independent candidate said: “We have seen that voting has been fair so far. If there is a fair election, I will win. I am totally hopeful.”

Alom had previously run for the Bogura-4 parliamentary seat in 2018 and lost.

In the run-up to the election, Alom was removed from the list of candidates due to election officials’ perceived issues with his application. The High Court later reinstated the media personality’s candidacy in both seats.

AWAMI LEAGUE BACKS EX-BNP MAN IN BRAHMANBARIA

Voter turnout has been quite low in the Brahmanbaria-2 bypoll.

On Wednesday, voting started at 8:30 am in 132 centres using EVMs. A trickle of voters could be seen at Sarail Sadar Union Parishad, Uchaliapara Government Primary High School, Boddapara Government Primary High School, and Sarail Government Primary High School as of 10 am.

The BNP urged voters not to go to the polls and cast their ballots.

More than a thousand of policemen, 150 Ansar members, 4 platoons of the BGB and 10 RAB teams have been deployed in the polling centres in Sarail and Ashuganj to maintain law and order.

In addition, 17 executive magistrates and two judicial magistrates are monitoring the election. The voting will continue until 4:30 pm in the constituency of 373,319 voters.

Md Abdul Hamid, a Jatiya Party candidate, Zahirul Islam Jewel of the Zaker Party, and independent candidates Md Ziaul Haque Mridha, Abdus Sattar and Abu Asif Ahmed are contesting the Brahmanbaria-2 seat.

The ruling party Awami has no candidate in the race but its leaders and activists are backing Abdus Sattar, popularly known as lawyer Sattar, who had previously been elected to the seat five times as a BNP candidate.

On Dec 11, Sattar resigned from parliament alongside his fellow BNP MPs as part of the party's movement demanding an election under a caretaker government. He then left the BNP to contest the bypoll for his vacant seat.

Asif, former president of the Ashuganj Upazila BNP, is considered to be his strongest opposition. But, according to his family, he 'disappeared' on Jan 27.

Amid growing speculation about his whereabouts, Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman said Asif may have voluntarily gone into hiding. Asif’s wife Meherunnisa suggested that the police may have "done something to him". The Election Commission refuted her claims, saying it had found no involvement of any law enforcement agency in Asif's disappearance.

The BNP MPs announced their decision to resign at a rally in Dhaka's Golapbag on Dec 10. They submitted their resignation letters to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury the next day.